Monday, January 2, 2017

Pilates Experiment

I started Pilates in September after a massage therapist upon hearing about all my physical aches and pains suggested it. He asked, "Why are you beating yourself up with bootcamp? Why aren't you doing pilates?" Well, I didn't really know what pilates was. Wasn't even on my radar. My gym has a pilates class, which they do on a mat. I knew very little about pilates, but I did know it was done on a contraption I later found out is called the reformer.

I came home did research on where pilates studies were in my area. I have 5. Picked the closest one and signed up for a personal one on one. I do this because I have NO idea what to do. I want a pro to instruct me. This helps me with my shy, don't like to make mistakes, frighten of new things part of my personality. I pay for this block of time from a pro to receive instruction, ask questions, make mistakes usually in a very friendly environment.

I've been so lucky in my fitness journey. First I found Michelle, who got me started and helped me learn the ropes at the gym. She gently steered me toward clean eating and building muscle. Now I have Jenn a knowledgeable Pilates instructor. One week for her and my chronic painful shoulders felt so much better. 2 years of babying them at the gym was cured with one week of pilates. Proper positioning and no weight lifting. I was all in.

This though created a lot of stress in that when doing pilates I feel like I'm doing nothing. Literally nothing. I didn't want to be insulting, because my shoulders were happy, but my legs and arms were starving for strenuous activity. I decided to just relax into it. Nothing will be done that I couldn't undo with returning to the gym.

I wanted to come to pilates and have the instructors give me the "Pilates way of life." This is how we eat. This is how we work out. This is how we live. Got none of that. Despite my questioning and sharing of my feelings. I continue to get great workouts that focus on proper body mechanics. My shoulders say we are where we need to be.

My ever increasing butt size though says I need more. I put on 15 pounds in 2016. Nobodies fault but my own. I've changed my whole way of exercising, but I didn't change the way I ate. Pilates burns easily half the calories I did at the gym AND its not aerobic. I'm not getting that zone 2 45 minute burn I need to burn more calories while at rest for 24 hours.

Surprisingly, I still fit in my clothes, but they are tight. I refuse to buy more clothes. This is the vow I made to myself as I got fitter and cleaned out my closet over the years. No more fat clothes. No more gain 50 pounds or more and THEN do something about it. Honestly, I've let myself go further than I wanted this time, BUT I'm in transition. I deserve some grace and understanding. I also deserve some structure and portion control.

MFP can be my friend. It really helped me years ago to pinpoint bad habits and create good ones. Hydration has been a real problem last few months. I don't start my day with a quart of water that I drink at the gym. I always feel a quart low and I never feel like drinking water. New habit drink water. Make it a habit not a necessity. Don't wait till I have 2 tsps of water in my system to drink. I have a app that sends me reminders. I need to drink 12 cups minimum. Alarms set accordingly. I need more movement in my week. I talked to a trainer, who specializes in active old ladies. HA! Not even kidding. She said low impact aerobics perfect pairing with pilates, walking, biking, swimming etc. I want to walk more, but my plantar fasciitis really gets me. I found the past few months when I do walking in my street shoes that have good arch support my feet feel better than when I do walking in my walking shoes with arch supports. SO going to experiment with stiffer arch supports in my walking shoes.

Plans plans plans need to be executed not just talked about it. My health and well being and size 10 butt that I enjoy so much depend on it. I'm a gadget girl. Fitbit on. Apps ready. Great attitude loaded.